adg211288 The Clans Are Marching is the first EP release by German Power Metal band Rebellion. It was released in 2009 about a month before the group’s fifth album, Arise: From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök - The History of the Vikings Volume III and out of the four tracks on the release, fifty percent is also on the album.

The title track here is actually a Grave Digger cover. For people unaware Rebellion members Uwe Lulis and Tomi Göttlich used to be in Grave Digger are actually wrote this song, so although it is a cover, it is, in its own way, very much a Rebellion song and vocalist Michael Seifert really makes it his own in this new version. I actually prefer this to the original, but that may just be my status as a Rebellion fanboy coming through there.

Next we get the two songs from the Arise album, the first being that album’s title track. It’s a good choice to include here to promote that album, which I consider to be a metal masterpiece. Also presented here is the song Ragnarök I (often credited just as Ragnarök on many online resources), which is not actually the same song called Ragnarök as on the Arise album, but rather the song Prelude. Another good choice for promotion of the then forthcoming album, but that album is out now, which unfortunately leaves this EP with a lack of material that can’t be found elsewhere.

Fortunately there is another non-album track in the form of My Blood in the Snow. This is a slower paced affair than much of the Arise album but would have worked well with the songs presented there.

Overall the material on offer here deserves the highest of scores, but as I stated above, the album that followed this is out now and leaves The Clans Are Marching effectively a two song offering. There’s also a live video of The Clans Are Marching on offer, but although the sound quality is good the filming is all from the side of the stage and you don’t get a great view of the live performance. I’m going to rate this EP based on the quality of the music, but I think that at the end of the day this is a release for diehard fans only.

(Review originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)